“The objective is for the team to win every Sunday and hopefully to also score a goal. We are fighting to the very end and will continue along our path,” he told Sky Sport Italia.

Destro is a former Italy Under-21 international who was out for almost nine months with a knee injury, but is quickly becoming a hot favourite for Italy’s World Cup squad.

“I do my work every Sunday and try to help Roma as best I can. That is all I can do,” he shrugged.

“Even when Francesco Totti is playing, I try to improve every aspect of my game and am working on every element.

“I think everyone knows I didn’t have an easy situation with such a long injury. The fact this new Coach arrived and still kept me in consideration even when I was not available for training or playing, it gave me a lot of confidence. I thank him for that.”

There was a controversial incident during the first half when Destro appeared to swing out an arm and strike DavideAstori, but the Cagliari defender was the only one booked.

“There was contact and he put his arm out first. My eyes were closed, so I couldn’t even see where he was. In fact, I think he was booked for the reaction rather than the coming together with me. Besides, Astori is a friend.”